2.08.2011

East teacher a winner on ‘Wheel of Fortune’

Kim Davenport won $6,000 on Friday’s “Wheel of Fortune,” making her the latest person with Murray connections to appear on the popular syndicated game show.

Davenport followed last Tuesday’s appearance of Murray State University graduate Jacob Ray, a Carlisle County Middle School teacher, and October’s appearance of Hunter York, a Hardin resident who is on the MSU men’s golf team. Davenport is a special education teacher at East Calloway Elementary School, and both she and Ray appeared as part of the game show’s Teacher’s Week.

Davenport said she auditioned for the show in Metropolis, Ill., last summer, thinking it would be a lot of fun. She said she was one of many people in the large ballroom trying to get on the show and was thrilled to have her name pulled out of a large barrel and called. She then went on the stage with several other contestants and played a game. The letter came in the middle of June, and Davenport went to California to be on the show in November. All the Teacher’s Week episodes were shot back-to-back, and Davenport said she enjoyed meeting her fellow contestants.

“All the teachers there were so nice,” Davenport said. “Everybody was just really sweet, and I don’t know if that was because they were all kindergarten teachers. But it was just a lot of fun, and we all had a lot in common, and it was neat to get to represent Calloway County.”

Davenport ended up winning $6,000, which was more than enough to cover the trip. Her husband, Andy, and 2-year-old son, Jake, came along, as did Davenport’s parents, who live in Dukedom, Tenn. Davenport said the family enjoyed going site-seeing in Hollywood, visiting the Hollywood sign, the Walk of Fame and Grauman’s Chinese Theatre.

For each of the teachers on the show, a photo was shown of their students back home holding signs to wish them good luck. She said her students were excited to be pictured on the show and talked about it a lot last week.